School board discusses bid opening for high school expansion

The Tea Area School Board met March 20 and heard about bid opening for the high school expansion project.

Operations manager Wayne Larsen said the bid opening was scheduled for March 21 at 2 p.m. The board will hold a special meeting to set the guaranteed maximum price from Jans March 27 at 6:30 p.m.

Larsen said they have been trying to get snow off the site so work can begin soon. They still need to move three stick buildings.

He also noted that they have gotten a couple of quotes for work to be done on the high school gym floor. On Christmas Eve, the entryway to the high school froze and the sprinkler lines froze. Water was all over the commons and up to half court in the gym. They are currently waiting on insurance to determine how much is covered. Ideally they would start working on the floor after prom and be done before graduation.

The board approved the resignations of Emily Christensen as eighth grade volleyball assistant coach, Michele Magnuson as Venture Elementary foodservice supervisor, Shad Hawkey as special education paraprofessional, Kylie Coyle as middle school cross country coach and Matt Johnson as middle school football coach. Resignations effective at the end of the school year include Kylie Coyle as Continuous School Improvement coach, Ashley Schwarz as third grade Legacy Elementary teacher, Daniel Morrison as TLR SPED teacher, Jennifer Willson as elementary music teacher, Becca Toso Mahowald as middle school teacher, Madisen Burgers as Venture Elementary teacher, John Knodel as middle school social studies and Lynn Hayenga retiring as a SPED paraprofessional.

They approved the new hires of Jill Michaelson for Frontier special education, Amanda Graff for Frontier special education, April Kalscheuer as middle school TLR special education teacher, Taryn Helgeson as high school world language teacher, Morgan McKellep as high school English teacher, Lisa Skeens as Frontier Elementary school counselor, Margaret Carlson as high school special education resource, Kasey Kuikon as Venture Elementary first grade teacher, John Schmidt as high school science, Carter Olson as head seventh grade boys basketball coach, Clayton Sorum as assistant seventh grade boys basketball coach, Todd Gannon as high school strength and conditioning, Bradie Timmins as head middle school cross country coach and Lisa Olson as Venture Elementary first grade teacher.

The board was also informed of transfers within the district: Regina Tusken to high school lead custodian, Megan Schad to Legacy Elementary second grade, Lynsey Hoines to high school special education TLR teacher, Kristina Westhoff Legacy Elementary first grade, Austin Koehler to middle school head football coach, Ryan Decker to head eighth grade girls basketball coach and Matt Brue to assistant eighth grade girls basketball coach.

Business manager Chris Esping noted that their line of credit with Reliabank was up for renewal. They have never used the $300,000 line of credit in the past, but after talking with the bank they suggested they up the line of credit to $1 million as a safety net since the district’s expenses have gone up. The board approved the renewal of $1 million line of credit.

The board approved the LTTW foodservice co-op agreement for food prices for the 2023-24 school year. The co-op is between Lennox, Tea Area, Tri-Valley and West Central.

They also approved the updates to the TASK handbook that makes references to the elementary handbook to cut down on contradictions.

Student board member Ben Daggett suggested the board allow a junior and senior student be on the board going forward. When the senior graduates, the junior moves up and a new junior comes on the board.

Superintendent Jennifer Lowery provided an update on the continuous school improvement scorecard she has been working on for the district. The scorecard will go on the school website under strategic planning.

They went into executive session at 5:45 p.m.

The board approved certified contracts and support service specialist contracts.